Posted by
BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:04:31 PM
The three-hour auction will be conducted online among previously approved bidders. At the end, bids in the system will be used to determine a clearing price based on supply versus demand. The minimum clearing price is set at $1.86 per ton for the first auction.
The big question is what the clearing price will end up being. In Europe, carbon trading has hit electric ratepayers hard, with carbon allowances selling for as high as $48 a ton at auction. RGGI has put plans in place to prevent the price from rising above $10 a ton.
It's all for the good health of the planet I suppose. Some are
not convinced any real good is going to come from it. I wonder if this has anything to do with it:
Murrow said RGGI may have already indirectly cut future emissions in the region by making companies hesitate to build any new plants fired by coal, the dirtiest fuel. A new coal plant would likely have to buy emissions permits because the cap gets tougher over time, with a 10 percent reduction in emissions by 2018.
Carbon emissions fell in the Northeast last year as generation rose from nuclear power, which emits virtually no greenhouse pollution, generators burned more cleaner-burning natural gas rather than oil as prices fell, and as economic growth slowed, Environment Northeast said.
They may have undermined their whole scheme.